There are already ebooks available by conference organization TED, but as of Tuesday it will be selling them through a new app, TED Books for iOS. Avid TED talk readers can also buy subscriptions through the app.
TED’s books app is based on the platform developed by Brooklyn-based publisher and developer Atavist, which allows for enhanced features like video and audio. This is great for TED Books as videos of TED talks are embedded into some of the books.
Videos can be watched anywhere, including the subway and on airplanes. They can also be streamed to the Apple TV through AirPlay. There is also a neat commenting feature that allows readers to leave comments at the end of books.
Readers can buy books for $2.99 each or can buy a subscription for $14.00 for three months of books, which includes six books with a new book delivered every two weeks plus access to all the books in the back catalog.
Authors are paid in advance and also get a royalty every time their book is downloaded. Tom Rielly, TED fellows, and community director, said that assuming there are enough subscribers, authors are guaranteed a first printing that is larger than they’re used to. He added that many TED speakers aren’t full-time authors and don’t always have the time to write a big book but they can get one of these books together quite quickly.
Source: paidContent
Image Credit: FunkySpaceMonkey
